he has spent 35 years in electric power generation, energy storage, transformation and switching.Steve was hired by EPRI to be the Director of the EPRI Power Electronics Applications Center in Knoxville. He is

– Mr. Mike Wehrenberg will present “RST Robotics Competition Overview-A program that builds mindshare, activity, and excitement in the STEM education arena.”: a discussion about the Smokey Mountain Regional Robot competition coming up in March.
For many years, the NASA Robotics Alliance Project (RAP) has been supporting participation in the FIRST Robotics Competition by providing grants to high school teams as well as sponsoring FIRST regional competitions. The program depends on professionals working

On January 9, 2012, Liz Albertson was the primary presenter of PlanET and she provided an overview of the project intent, observations from the initial round of Forum input and a few methods of how to become engaged. Plan East Tennessee is a regional partnership of communities working toward a shared vision and seeking ideas about protecting resources and addressing challenges regarding jobs, housing, transportation, a clean environment, and community health. Their goal is to create long-term solutions for investments in the region and to define the next chapter in its rich history, leaving a legacy of optimism and opportunity for future generations. The five-county planning region includes Anderson, Blount, Knox, Loudon, and Union

attended by 60 people. Madeline Rogero, newly elected mayor of the City of Knoxville, spoke. The title of her speech was:“The Importance and Equity of Long-Term Sustainability Planning.” The speech was interesting and informative and there was a very good discussion after the prepared speech.

Disasters in the Volunteer State.” Allen Coggins, Emergency Management Specialist at Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, has written a book, the name of which is Tennessee Tragedies: Natural, Technological, and Societal Disasters in the Volunteer State. It hit the bookstore shelves in December 2011. The publisher is the University of Tennessee Press. Allen, who is a past president

Long-Term Sustainability Planning.” Cost is $25 per person. Payment will be taken at the door. Anyone wishing to attend is asked to RSVP with your dinner choice by 5:00 p.m., January 23, 2012, to Laura.Ferguson@arcadis-us.com Guests

On December 5 Charles C. Coutant, PhD talked about water withdrawal from the Savannah River when two new units at the existing 2-unit Plant Vogtle nuclear station were the first nuclear units to be permitted for construction since the 1970s. The talk covered a description of the existing plant and its proposed additional 2 units, issues raised by intervenors in opposition during the licensing proceeding, studies conducted at the existing 2-units to estimate environmental impacts of adding two units (nearly identical those in place), and the resolution of the issues through a hearing with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. Most issues involved physical, chemical and thermal impacts to aquatic life in the Savannah River, from which the cooling towers would withdraw make-up water and release blowdown. Water withdrawal could potentially entrain fish eggs and larvae and impinge larger fish on intake screens. Release of warm blowdown water could potentially cause adverse thermal effects. Dredging of the Savannah River to deliver large reactor components could potentially cause damage to bottom organisms in dredged materials. All the issues were resolved and the Early Site Permit for initial construction was issued by the NRC.

Dr. Coutant retired in 2005 as a Distinguished Research Ecologist in the Environmental Sciences Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and

On December 12, Barbara Scott. Environmental Specialist at Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation spoke about the status of the ash cleanup at the Kingston steam plant.

She has been serving as the State’s representative onsite during the Kingston Ash Recovery project over the past three years. She worked for EPA Region 4 Superfund before coming to TDEC five years ago. The work on the ash spill has progressed

well and stage 1 , which was time sensitive , has been completed. She described the remaining work on ash disposal and the long term environmental work that is ongoing.

The December 19, 2011 speaker was Rob Scott of Eventbooking.com. He described the changes in computer programming and the internet. His company has a large computer program that they have completely rewritten three times and to

which they make frequent major modifications. He spoke about the “cloud” where data now resides in perhaps redundant places but it seemed a bit hazy (to the TSK secretary). Robert Ferris Scott is a member of the Technical Society and he is a great grandson of Charles Ferris,

the founder of the Technical Society. Also Rob is a legend at TVA. During the 1982 worlds fair, TVA learned that the best graphics computer programmer in the Knoxville area was a Bearden High School senior and they hired him to write the programs for their worlds fair barge. His computer game, written for the Apple2 computer, with Morgan Goranfro, for controlling lake levels and river flow rates was in the TVA offices for many years. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee in electrical engineering and he is an officer in Eventbooking.com and oversees their computer programming.

December 5 – Expansion of the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant (Georgia): How have environmental issues been resolved?

December 12 – Barbara Scott. Environmental Specialist at Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will speak about the Status of the Ash Cleanup at the Kingston Steam Plant. She has been serving as the State’s representative onsite during the

December 19 – Rob Scott of EventBooking.com. He will discuss web based computer programming. Robert Ferris Scott is a member of the Technical Society and he is a great grandson of Charles Ferris, the founder of the Technical Society. This will be a professional development hour (PDH).

Nov 7: The Technical Society of Knoxville speaker on November 7, 2011 was Ted Tyree, P.E., of Knoxville Utilities Board. He described new processes being added to the KUB wastewater treatment plants to help address high-flow conditions at the plants during periods of heavy rainfall. The first new process is High Rate Clarification, where high wet-weather flows are treated using ferric Chloride, polymers and microsand to help coagulate suspended solids in the incoming waste stream more quickly. The second is Biologically Enhanced High Rate Clarification, which enhances the removal of remaining solids and biochemical oxygen demand components of the waste stream.

These processes have been successfully tested at Kuwahee and Fourth Creek, and will be implemented for production at both locations over the next 10 years. These changes will improve the

KUB chances of meeting permit requirements without blending, and without endangering the ongoing processes at the plant through a plant washout.

The November 14, 2011 meeting speaker was Marie Gray from Management Solutions LLC. Management Solutions is a woman-owned small business with extensive experience in the world of project controls, project management, cost estimating, process improvement, and construction management.

Marie Gray has over 30 years of experience as a Business Process Consultant for Fortune 500 companies. A primary consultant on projects for American General Life and Accident, Cargill, Inc., General Electric, Procter & Gamble, GTE Sylvania, IBM, Rand McNally, Kennametal, Trane, ADP, MCI, Rubbermaid, Newell, E.W. Scripps, Nova Systems, Levi Strauss, Department of Defense, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Maximus. She is the recipient of the 2006 National Leadership Award from the National Business Advisory Council, as well as the 2006 Congressional Medal of Distinction for Leadership.

The November 21 meeting speaker was Roy Arthur, Knox County Watershed Coordinator. He spoke about the work on Beaver Creek. The Beaver Creek watershed has a history of impaired water quality and flooding of the valley floor. It is one of the most rapidly developing areas in Knox County. The creek is on the 303(d) list maintained by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), which indicates that it violates water quality standards and is too polluted to support many of its designated uses. Beaver Creek is a priority watershed for riparian zone management and protection.

Knox County is classified by the EPA as a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) “Phase II” stormwater community (successor program to the Clean Water Act), which requires plans to be developed to address surface water pollution. The Beaver Creek Green Infrastructure Plan is a pilot project that anticipates a government response to Phase II requirements. Rapid, sprawling, unplanned low-density residential development and corridor commercial development are driving open-space loss, habitat fragmentation, and the degradation of the scenic character and rural lifestyle the area once enjoyed.

Ph.D., P.E. His speech topic was “The Sevier County Compost Facility”. A few years ago the Sevier County Compost Facility was rated as the number one municipal compost plant in the United States. The plant has received wide international interest as well, with visitors coming from places like China and Spain to tour the plant. He described the plant process and progress since it was built and since it had a bad fire.

Dr. Hyfantis is the principal manager and engineer for QE2 ( Quantum Environmental & Engineering Services, LLC). Founder and President of QE2, Dr. Hyfantis has 30 years of experience in the environmental engineering industry. Dr. Hyfantis is a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager and is co-author of the Certified Hazardous Materials Manager’s Manual (1987)

Dr. Hyfantis has served as an international consultant to Taiwan, Thailand, Hungary,

Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Additionally, Dr. Hyfantis’ work has included extensive consulting services for State Agencies, municipalities, transit authorities, and private sector corporations covering a broad variety of environmental concerns. Before founding QE2, he was President of International Waste Management Systems, Vice President of Environmental Systems Corporation, and Manager of the Regional Waste Management Program for the Tennessee Valley Authority. Dr. Hyfantis has been an adjunct professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Tennessee for 30 years.

November 8: Stephen Yerka. UTK. He has done gradiometer and soil resistance studies of archeological sites.

November 15: Dr. David Ludwig of Arcadis will present his talk on The Precautionary Principle and Sustainability: A Systems Perspective (PDH)

November 22 : An evening meeting. Starting at 6:00 PM.
Want to know more about the glass house on the Humanities Plaza? UT’s Team Living Light is one of only 20 teams chosen to design and build a marketable, functioning, solar powered house for the international Solar Decathlon

November 21: Roy Arthur, Knox County Watershed Coordinator, will be the speaker. What happens to storm water and stream water is very important and disposition of water issues requires much of the Knoxville City Council’s time. The Technical Society members will have opportunities to interact with a person who has both understanding and experience in local gtoundwater management.

investigating causes of the changing concentrations of aerosols and trace gases and the consequent effects on climate and the biosphere.

Oct 10 :(Columbus Day): We toured the new STEM academy , which is in the L&N Terminal building and ate at the school for lunch. It is a very impressive school and the equipment is outstanding.

Oct 17: Josh Emery from UTK Planetary Science spoke about the OSIRIS-REX asteroid mission. (Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer)- acronyms are taking over the language! He has been involved in the design parameters for this satellite and he described how the satellite will sample an asteroid and return to earth with the sample.

Oct 24: Dr. Chris Cherry of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville spoke on transportation. One of his research interests is transportation needs of rapidly developing countries-specifically China. He is setting up electric bicycles for transportation on the UT campus and he came from UT on a Chinese electric bicycle. Which he brought to the room.

Oct 31: Patricia Davis-Wiley spoke with enthusiasm on Cyber Communication to teach English as a second language. She is a UTK professor who is currently teaching a graduate class on how to teach English as a second language at UT and she is teaching Koreans to speak English as a second language. She uses “Skype” to let her two classes interact with each other . Skype is a FREE software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet.

October 3 – TJ Blasing PhD in meteorology will speak on climate change. Since joining the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) in the Environmental Data Science and Systems group at ORNL, he has been investigating causes of

October 10 – (Columbus Day): TSK at STEM School. We will meet at the school, which is in the L&N Terminal building and eat at the school ($4 for lunch). Details will be sent by email.

October 17 – Josh Emery from UTK Planetary Science will speak about The OSIRIS-REX Asteroid Mission: Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer. The overarching theme of his research in planetary science is discovering how our Solar System formed and evolved to its present state.

and Environmental Engineering at UT Knoxville will speak on Transportation. One of his research interests is transportation needs of rapidly developing countries-specifically China.

October 31 – Patricia Davis-Wiley will speak on Cyber Communication to Teach English in Korea. She is a UTK professor and her areas of expertise are world languages, changing demographics in the US and methods of teaching English as a second language, as well as, issues and trends in teacher education.

Monday meetings

Where - Crowne Plaza on Summit Hill Drive
When - Lunch buffet starts at 11:30 AM
Meeting starts at 11:55
Cost - $13.00
For more information, e-mail us at TechnicalSocietyofKnoxville@gmail.com

The Technical Society of Knoxville and its Mission

The Technical Society of Knoxville is a group of persons interested in technology and science, and their effects on society, and in particular, on the community. The Society was founded in 1921 by Charles E. Ferris, the first dean of the UT College of Engineering and a group of leading members of the community.
The hallmark of the Technical Society is its Monday Luncheon meeting. Every Monday, the program features a speaker on a subject of technical, scientific, or general interest. Forty-four meetings were held in 2009. It is estimated that some 3980 luncheon meetings have been held over the past 90 years. The presentations are planned to be informative and educational, and provide person to person contact with experts in the field. Meetings take place at the Crowne Plaza on Summit Hill Drive in downtown Knoxville. Complimentary self parking is available in the hotel garage. Meeting attendees receive a token for exiting the garage without charge after the meeting. Members and guests begin arriving around 11:30am and go through the buffet line. Cost is $13 per person payable in cash or by check in the meeting room to the designated collector. Meetings are called to order at 11:50. After a brief transaction of Society business, the guest speaker is introduced. Normally, presentations take about 50 minutes. Time is usually available for questions from the audience. The meetings are adjourned at 1:00pm. Some programs are scheduled as professional development hours (PDH) to meet the State of Tennessee’s continuing education requirements for professional engineers. These PDHs consist of at least 50 minutes of prepared presentation with discussion reserved for the time after the meeting. The State Licensing Board does not pre-approve such hours and the TSK does not guarantee approval, but strictly meets the Board-specified requirements and issues a certificate of attendance. Monday meetings are announced in the Saturday’s or Sunday’s Knoxville News Sentinel Business Bulletins. Guests are welcome.
For more information contact the secretary, Bob Scott, at rrscott3@aol.com or 865-690-0705.